Values clarification and behavioral group counseling with ninth-grade boys in a residential school.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine whether values clarification or behavioral counseling was more effective in reducing maladaptive and interfering behaviors among ninth-grade male students in a residential school. Ninety-six subjects were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: values clarification, behavioral counseling, placebo, or no treatment. The subjects, in groups of eight, received counseling for 15 weeks. Duringvthe 15 weeks of treatment and 15 weeks of posttreatment, data were collected on behavioral indicators of unhappiness (actions which suggest that the student is experiencing unhappiness with student life) and acts of maladaptive behavior (student actions that violate the behavior code of the school and require disciplinary action). Self-reported irrationality and houseparent opinion data were collected as a pretest and two posttests. Values clarification and behavioral group counseling were found to be equally effective in reducing the frequency of observed negative behaviors. An important finding was that the effects of group counseling did not appear during the treatment period. Only during the 15 weeks of posttreatment were treatment differences found for the dependent variables.

Primary Prevention Mental Health Programs for Children and Adolescents: A Meta‐Analytic Review

“…The 26 programs employing behavioral or cognitivebehavior forms of intervention were nearly twice as effective than the 16 utilizing nonbehavioral techniques (mean ESs of 0.49 and 0.25, respectively). This observed superiority of behavioral over nonbehavioral interventions that occurred across studies was also confirmed by Diguiseppe and Kassinove (1976) and Thompson and Hudson (1982) in within-study comparisons in which behavioral and nonbehavioral interventions were compared. The behavioral techniques used most frequently in Other programs involved modeling, role-playing followed by feedback and reinforcement, and various cognitive-behavior self-control strategies.…”

“…These programs varied in terms of what problems they were seeking to prevent or what competencies they were promoting. For instance, one focused on assertiveness (Rotheram, Armstrong, & Booraem, 1982); one modified irrational beliefs according to the rational emotive therapy model (Diguiseppe & Kassinove, 1976) in order to reduce anxiety, and one sought to enhance self-esteem and modify school attitudes and behavior by values clarification exercises (Thompson & Hudson, 1982). Homogeneity was achieved among Other programs by dividing them according to the general change in strategy that was used in the intervention.…”

Core skills in motivational interviewing.

“…The experience of dissonance is uncomfortable, thus motivating individuals to reduce this tension by seeking resolution to such discrepancies and reestablishing behavior-value consistency. Indeed, studies have found that heightening awareness of one’s values can exert strong influence on one’s behavior in areas such as social activism (Rokeach & Cochrane, 1972; Rokeach & McMillan, 1972), weight loss (Schwartz & Inbar-Saban, 1988), adolescent disruptive behaviors (Thompson & Hudson, 1982), and smoking behavior (Conroy, 1979).…”

Classroom Misconduct and Integration by Sex

“…No permanent record is kept on detentions and ordinarily the cards themselves are destroyed a few months after being issued. In consequence, however, of an earlier study (Thompson, 1978), all of the detention slips for the 9th grade in the fall term, from September to mid-December, of the 1977-78 school year had been retained. The 9th grade slips for the winter term, from January to early April, of the 1978-79 school year were also available.…”